Napoleon Bonaparte once said, "There is no such thing as an accident; it is Fate misnamed." This is clearly shown in The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare. The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet is a play about love and hate and the eventual demise of "star-crossed lovers," Romeo and Juliet. Shakespeare eloquently states throughout the play that Fate is to blame for the lover's deaths in the end. While some may argue that the characters are to blame due to their choices, which, the readers may claim, were acts or free will, the reality of the situation is that Fate is to blame for causing Romeo and Juliet to fall in love as well as causing the situations that led to their deaths.
To begin, Romeo and Juliet falling in love was all by the wicked hands of Fate. One example of Fate being behind the doomed love is seen at the beginning of the play, when Lord Capulet sends a servant out to invite people on a list he is given to a party at the Capulet house. The servant, unable to read, happens to bump into Romeo and asks for his help. Romeo, happy to oblige, sees Rosaline, his "love," is on the list and, after the servant kindly invites him to attend the party, Romeo debates whether or not he should go to the Capulet's house. Finally, after Benvolio, Romeo's cousin, insists Romeo goes to the party to at least compare Rosaline to the other women of Verona, Romeo declares, "I'll go along, no such sight to be shown, / But to rejoice in splendor of mine own" (1.2.107-8). Romeo has decided to attend the party in hopes that he may be able to win over his "love" Rosaline. But, without chance (i.e. fate) meddling in the affairs of both the Capulets and the Montagues, Romeo would have never been invited to the party. The servant of t...
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...kespeare, a play about love, hate, and the death of two doomed lovers, Fate is to blame for the lover's demise. While some may argue that Friar Laurence is the cause of Romeo and Juliet's death, Fate is actually to blame. This is shown clearly at the beginning of the play with the mention of "star-crossed lovers," as well as throughout the play with references to "fortune" or "stars." Fate caused Romeo and Juliet to fall in love as well as meddled in the situations regarding both Romeo and Juliet, therefore causing their demise and fulfilling its duty. While it may have been hard to see at times, Fate was omnipresent throughout the play and played a significant role in the end. The star-crossed lovers were doomed; they just refused to see their fate.
Works Cited
The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet: And Related Readings. Evanston, IL: McDougal Littell, 1997. Print.
“It lies not in our power to love, or hate, for will in us is over-rul'd by fate.” In William Shakespeare’s play Romeo and Juliet, it is clear that the leading theme is fate, as it is mentioned several times. Shakespeare allows the audience to see everything that happens “behind closed doors.” While some characters’ actions did affect the outcome of the play, fate is the ruling force.
Romeo and Juliet is a play by William Shakespeare that tells the tale of two young lovers who come from opposing families. At first they don’t even know that the other exists; However, that all changes one night at a party that Juliet’s father, Lord Capulet, throws. Romeo and Juliet fall madly in love and rush to get married. Sadly, these two don’t get a happy ending, and one question remains: who or what is to blame for the lovers’ tragic end? Is it fate or human choice?
Throughout the play, it is clearly shown that fate has a huge role in the “star-crossed lovers” dire downfall. This is written in the prologue to foreshadow the ending. The prologue provides the audience with Romeos thought provoking promotion further warming the reader of the omnipresent force of fate which is looking over him, “Some consequence, yet hanging in the stars.” Here Shakespeare use literary techniques such as a metaphor to demonstrates that there is a deathly consequence written in fate for Romeo. Overall this provides the reader with the knowledge of what Romeo is thinking and foreshadows the end of the story. Shakespeare uses clever diction to imply that Juliet’s death is inevitable, "If all else fail, myself have power to die.” This clearly illustrates that fate is involved in the upcoming disaster. Not only have the lovers realized that there is a greater fore involved, but Friar Lawrence has too realized, “a greater power than we can contradict, hath thwarted our intents.” This shows that fate is a subjugate factor in the lover’s untimely
Some people may not believe that fate is something that truthfully exists in the world. This portion of the population doubts that there is anything that is actually meant to be or supposed to happen thinking that there is always a way around troubling predicaments, knowing that it isn't necessary to turn out just one certain way. They trust that whatever occurs in their lives comes as a result of the decisions that they make with their own free will. Others, however, believe that whatever happens during the course of their lives is inevitable and every event predestined and laid out before them like a roadmap to life; in other words, fate. William Shakespeare's play, Romeo and Juliet has fate as an exceptionally crucial force, pulling the characters into a more animated state. Because of fate, the play becomes tremendously thrilling and it is exactly what manages the two young lovers to meet each other in the first place. The moment that Romeo and Juliet meet is the exact incident that leads to their death, however unaware these "star-crossed lovers" are to that fact. Thus, fate is undoubtedly the most responsible influence for the couple's heartbreaking tragedy.
Two lovers lay dead on the ground. One with a wisp of poison on his breath, and the other with a dagger inside her. In the prologue, Shakespeare reveals to us that two star-crossed lovers die because of their families’ ongoing feud. When the two families discover what has happened and how they caused it, the families agree to end the feud and no longer quarrel. Was Romeo’s and Juliet’s death at the hand of the family in the form of fate, or did their choices cause this tragedy? In the play, Romeo and Juliet, by William Shakespeare, free will is more dominant than fate in the outcome of the play and is shown by Juliet’s actions, Romeo’s actions, and the actions of others.
Romeo and Juliet is widely known to be a tragedy, but what caused the atrocity for which it is so renowned? Some may argue fate was to blame for Romeo’s and Juliet’s deaths, that the situations these young lovers faced were depicted as being out of their control. Could Romeo have refused to attend the Capulet masque? Was Romeo destined to duel the raging Tybalt? Did Romeo and Juliet truly have to kill themselves? If one considers the specific circumstances and causes of these situations, the fact that all scenarios are the result of choice rather than chance, and the notion that the characters were never left without options, only one conclusion can be determined. It was unarguably the decisions made by characters, not those made by fate, that were responsible for the tragedy in Romeo and Juliet.
Rosenberg, David A. "Romeo and Juliet." Back Stage East 48.26 (2007): 14-. ProQuest. Web. 18 Apr. 2013.
Shakespeare uses the role of fate in Romeo and Juliet to show how love and bad decisions can change the ending of a story. First, fate brings these two “star-crossed lovers” together (R&J Prologue.6). The lovers are star-crossed because they are from two families (the Montagues and Capulets) that have had an “ancient grudge” (R&J Prologue.4). These two families hate each other so much their servants started a fight in the first scene just because they were from the other family. The fact that the lovers are star-crossed, yet they still love each other is a bad decision because it leads to their doom. Second, in the third act Romeo “slew Tybalt” because of fate (R&J 3.1.178). Tybalt hates Romeo for crashing the party where Romeo met Juliet and he also hates Romeo because he is a Montague. Paris hates Romeo even when Romeo did not get a choice in what family he was born into, it was fate. Then, Tybalt challenges Romeo to a duel but Tybalt ends up killing Mercutio. In anger from Mercutio’s death, Romeo kills Tybalt which gets him banished to Mantua. Even though he was angry over his friend’s death, this action was a bad decision by Romeo because the banishment caused problems for the lovers. Then, they have to find a way to still be together. To even more complicate the plot, Mr. Capulet promised Paris that will Juliet “shall be married to” him (R&J 3.4.21). This arrangement happens because Juliet was sad about Tybalt’s death and Romeo’s banishment. The marriage forces the Juliet to fake her death, which is the reason for Romeo’s suicide. Romeo committed suicide because he did not her death was fake. This is a bad decision because Juliet and Friar Lawrence should have found a way to tell Romeo before she fakes her death. Fourth, “Romeo [is] dead and Juliet” is dead too (R&J 5.1.196). The lovers died because they are star-crossed.
Romeo is in love with Rosaline at the very beginning of the story and has just found out that she has taken the vow of chastity. Meanwhile Lord Capulet has given County Paris Juliet’s hand in marriage if he can wait until she is sixteen. The Capulets have a party so that Juliet and the Count can meet and he can then woo her. When Romeo and Juliet first meet they are at the Capulet party, which Romeo sneaks into. They fall in love at first sight without realizing that they are enemies. Fate brings them together and it is fate that they are enemies.
Poor choices can cause tragic outcomes. Fate, on the other hand, is beyond someone's control. Many people believe that regardless of their actions, fate and destiny determine the outcome of their lives. However, in The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet, by William Shakespeare, the outcome of Romeo and Juliet's lives were controlled by the choices that they made. Although the deaths of Romeo and Juliet were mentioned in the prologue of the story as star-crossed lovers, the tragic ending of the couple was determined by their free will as a result of unwise decisions.
In Act 1 scene 2, a Capulet servant is walking along the streets of Verona trying to hand out invitations to a party. The only problem with this is the servant can't read. He runs into Romeo and Benvolio on the street. They read the list for him and decide to go to the party that the Capulets are throwing. This is fate because if the servant had run into any other person on the streets of Verona, Romeo would never even know about the Capulet party. Benvolio told Romeo to "Go thither and with untainned eye compare her (Rosaline's) face with some that I shall show". He wants Romeo to go look for someone at the party to get over his first love Rosaline. This is a bad thing for them since when Romeo and Juliet meet they don't know they are enemies. The servant running into Romeo and Benvolio is fate. If they hadn't run into each other, Romeo would've never met Juliet.
The play Romeo and Juliet written by William Shakespeare tells the story of two very young lovers who die. It just appears that fate controlled the outcome of the story. But if you really study and interpret the story you will realize it is a series of a few simple coincidences, which made the outcome so tragic.
Some people may not believe that destiny is something that truthfully exists in the world. These people doubt that there is anything that is actually meant to be, or supposed to happen, thinking that there is always a way around troubling predicaments, knowing that it is not necessary to turn out just one certain way. They trust that whatever occurs in their lives comes as a result of the decisions that they make with their own free will. Others believe that whatever happens during the course of their lives is inevitable and every event is laid out before them like a road map to life, in other words, fate. William Shakespeare's play, Romeo and Juliet has fate as an exceptionally crucial element which makes fate as important as any character in the production. The events leading up to and during the party were definitely caused by fate. The moment that Romeo and Juliet meet is the exact incident that leads to their death, however unaware these "star-crossed lovers" are to that fact. Thus, fate is undoubtedly the most responsible influence for the couple's tragedy.
The lovers of Shakespeare’s famous tragedy Romeo and Juliet are perhaps the most famous pair of lovers in history. Their story has been told and remade in countless ways, with a variety of endings. The original piece however ends with tragedy in Shakespeare’s play Romeo and Juliet. Throughout Shakespeare’s tragedy Romeo and Juliet, fate is the driving force in that the star-cross lovers are destined to have a tragic end. Throughout the play, Shakespeare uses literary elements to reveal that our actions are not what controls our life, but it is fate that determines what will happen to us.
The characters repeatedly used fate as a justification by saying the series of events that took place were completely out of their control. In contrast, everything from the botched letter plan to the lovers’ suicides could have been avoided if the characters had just been thinking rationally. By having the characters assert their culpability to destiny, Shakespeare is proclaiming that people need to take blame for wrongdoings. They should understand that it is their own decisions that determine the future, not fate. In order to prevent wrongdoings from occurring again one must acknowledge one’s role in the incident and take ownership. If only Romeo and Juliet had been honest to themselves about the mistakes the made for one another, who knows what fate must have held for the two